The Waterton Lake cruise is one of, if not the biggest attraction, Waterton has to offer. As you join the line up on the dock ready to board the 'M.V. International' you hope you get a good seat to see all the waiting wildlife. Lucky for you even if you are at the back of the line, where you sit down really does not matter because once the boat leaves the dock you are allowed to freely wander. It is about two too two and a quarter hours long in total. The boat ride from Waterton village to Goat Haunt ranger station in the United States is about 45 minutes one way and once docked you are allowed to walk around for about a half hour.

In order to go past the ranger station you must provide a valid passport. They do offer a nice stamp of a goat for your passport that you can ask for even if you are not planning to do any hiking there. If you do plan to hike there and only want to see one place, Kootenai Lakes is a better alternative then the closer waterfall. While not being a spectacular waterfall by any measure, seeing an adult moose with a little baby grunting as he is bouncing in the water is just that much cooler then water splashing through a rocky corridor.

We have taken the cruise a couple times, morning and evening. We have yet to see more than a duck... floating on the water's edge. Too the young speaker who did a pretty good job explaining the scenery along the way, but said he did not believe or use scripts, why did we hear everything word by word again the next time we were there? Besides that little blunder they did do good explaining the history, the different types of animals and water life found in the area and lots of other relevant information that one could find useful.

While not the cheapest at $36 per person, the beautiful and stunning scenery alone that Waterton National Park has to offer definitely makes this worth checking out.

Waterton Lake Cruise Photos

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